Some existing drugs might fight COVID-19. One may make it worse
Scientists are investigating a variety of drugs, including ones for anxiety and allergies, that might prevent the coronavirus from hijacking different cell systems to replicate itself. But one medicine that patients with COVID-19 may be using to treat a symptom of the disease could make things worse, lab experiments hint. A common ingredient in cough medicines, dextromethorphan, stimulated the growth of SARS-CoV-2 in monkey cells in lab dishes, researchers report April 30 in Nature. Dextromethorphan seems to activate a cellular stress-coping process that is also exploited by the virus for its replication. “We’re not necessarily recommending that everyone stop taking dextromethorphan,” said Brian Shoichet of the University of California, San Francisco School of Pharmacy. This work is only in lab experiments, he noted during a news briefing on April 30. In people, cough suppressants have not been shown to make infections worse. But because the lab results demonstrate “a pro-viral effect, it would be wrong not to highlight it, because it could be detrimental,” Shoichet said,...